Manchester City's long-term pursuit of West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta is coming to an abrupt halt. The Brazilian midfielder has been linked with a move to the Premier League champions for most of this window.

According to the reports from Fabrizio Romano, Paqueta's deal with Manchester City is on the verge of collapsing. The negotiations between the European champions and West Ham are currently off.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admired Paqueta for a long time. The Brazilian midfielder joined West Ham last season from Lyon last summer. He made 41 appearances for the UEFA Europa Conference League winners, scoring five goals in all competitions.

Sky Sports understand that the Pacqueta deal with Manchester City is 90% off. The former AC Milan man had agreed on personal terms with the Premier League champions despite only joining from Lyon last summer for £51m. The talks were in advanced stages as Manchester City were set to lodge a bid of £60m for the services of Paqueta.

Paqueta has four years left on his deal, which allows the Hammers to ask for a hefty fee for his services. As they have just seen a club-record sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal, they were reluctant to let Paqueta go even if the price was right. With the lack of incomings at the London Stadium, manager David Moyes would be happy to see the Brazilian midfielder stay.

Paqueta has an £85m release clause in his contract which cannot be triggered until next summer. If this transfer move to Manchester City gets completely diffused, it is likely that the Premier League champions will stay in the hunt for a new midfielder in this window.